Relaxing For Your Heart Health
While there is still some ambiguity about the manner in which stress increases the risk factors for heart disease, the empirical data does indicate that stress and heart disease are correlated in some manner. It is sometimes hypothesized that stress does not lead to heart disease directly but it exposes the body continuously to the onslaught of hormones like adrenalin and cortisol. It also increases the frequency of unhealthy actions like smoking, becoming lethargic, binge eating and more. They also eventually trigger the production of cholesterol, making you more likely to have high cholesterol (which can be easily measured with a cholesterol test). There is no doubt, therefore, that stress needs to be avoided or managed in order to ensure a healthy heart.
Typical Stress Symptoms
It is obviously mandatory to identify stress. Acute and chronic stress, both, are damaging for the body. While stress can be caused by various factors like financial trouble, emotional imbalance, unemployment, health issues and more, the stimuli that cause stress in one person can be different from those that cause stress in others. But the symptoms of stress are uncannily similar for all and can occur at a physical, emotional, cognitive or behavioral level.
These symptoms are:
Physical stress symptoms – General aches and pains, muscle tension, insomnia, fatigue, tinnitus, weight gain or loss, clenching jaws and grinding teeth and headaches.
Mental stress symptoms – Inability to make quick decisions, lack of creativity, forgetfulness and lack of focus.
Emotional stress symptoms – Apprehension, negative thinking, depression, mood swings, anxiety and feeling powerless and incapable of anything.
Behavioral stress symptoms – Binge eating, increase in alcohol consumption or smoking, explosive reactions, frequent job changes and withdrawal from society.
Managing Stress And Learning to Relax
While there will always be challenges in life there is a need to face up to the challenges with a positive bent of mind. It is also important to learn to refuse to get stressed by circumstances or incidents. This is something that you can do by learning how to relax. Some of the stress-relieving techniques that you can use have been described below.
Deep breathing – This is a stress relieving technique in which you learn how to breathe deeply by filling up your lungs as much as possible.
Progressive muscle relaxation – An easy technique to follow, progressive muscle relaxation requires you to concentrate your mind on specific muscles of the body to will them into relaxation.
Music therapy – A stress relieving therapy that has been long known, you can now buy CD’s that help you with relaxing stress relieving music.
Guided imagery – Imagining yourself in a serene environment where you are at peace with the world and in harmony is another way in which you can manage stress.
Biofeedback – A technique in which various instruments are used to measure physical reactions of stress like temperature, blood pressure and more, this stress reducing technique helps in understanding how you can use your mind to control and relax your body.
While these stress relieving techniques work well, it is also important to understand the root cause of your stress. Only by knowing this and facing the issue will you be able to avoid stress completely and free yourself from this heart disease risk factor. Eat healthy and exercise regularly to ensure that you stay happy, enthusiastic and positive about life.
– Article by Anne Hamilton
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